How I Escaped Atlanta
by Juliem2288
Summary: *Takes place in season 1* Think you've got what it takes to escape a city overrun by the dead? Ingrid is about to find out what it takes to survive on her own with nothing but the shirt on her back.
1. Chapter 1

My pace increases as I sprint down the city block. My riding boots are definitely not cut out for this, but it's either run or die. Tears spill down face making it hard to see. I make the mistake of looking back for a split second to gasp at the wall of bloody corpses stumbling after me. They're so close, I can smell their rotting flesh and blood soaked clothes from their last feeding session. In the distance I can see their victims slowly rising to join the procession. How is this happening? I turn my head around to look straight and smack right into the 10 foot chainlink fence that was put up to keep the walkers out of Atlanta. Ha. The irony is killing me.

Lets just rewind for a minute.

For starters, my name is Ingrid Phillips and I'm seventeen years old. I've lived in a small town just outside of Atlanta for my whole life, so when the the state urged us to move into Atlanta to prevent the infection from reaching us and spreading, me and my family were the first in line to get in. My mom, dad, and two baby sisters. We lived in small tents that the military had set up along the city blocks to keep everyone safe and monitored. They set up 5 separate tent communities right across the city. This system worked for about two weeks, until today when the walkers somehow made their way into the camps.

Me and my family slept in the same tent, and everyday I would wake up earlier than my sisters and parents and go to the portable bathhouse in the middle of our block that they had set up for the familys to share. I got up at my usual time, 7:20. I've never been one to be able to sleep late. I rose out of my sleeping bag and stretched as much as I could in our sardine can of a tent. I turn to my sisters and wondered what they were dreaming about. I watched as their chests slowly rose and fell. Rachel and Liz are identical twins. They both have the same fire engine red hair and green eyes. I remember when I was 10 I went to the hospital to visit after my mom gave birth. I was never able to tell them apart but as they grew, Rachel had a birthmark on her check right along her jawline, and I was finally able to distinguish the two. As I sat there that morning looking down at them, I just couldn't help but feel frustrated. Im mad as to why they have to deal with so much fear at such a young age. Seven year olds weren't supposed to be wondering where their next meal would come from. I sighed. Well as soon as this blows over, everything will go back to normal.I bent over to kiss them both on the cheek. As I stood to leave, I heard a rustling from Liz's sheets. "Hey where are you going?" Liz said in her groggy sleep voice. Her hair was all matted on one side from how she was sleeping. "Don't worry" I said, "I'll be right back, I'm just going to brush my teeth, go back to sleep". She nodded and dropped her head back down and fell right back into dreaming.

I emerged from our tent and grabbed my shower bag and my change of clothes out of my luggage and headed for the bathroom. I walked in, brushed my teeth, took a quick shower and changed. Before leaving, I looked in the mirror they had hanging over the sinks. My dirty blonde, shoulder length waves hung loosely over my shoulders and my blue eyes looked tired with the addition of bags underneath. My freckles were the only thing that stayed the same throughout this whole situation. They were sprinkled all over my nose and on my cheeks. I turned away form the mirror, tired of looking at myself and heard a high pitched scream. My heart dropped out of my chest. I dropped my toothbrush and pajamas leaving them behind and ran out of the bathhouse. I look at our camp and it's too late. The walkers trail into our camp and are already feasting on our sleeping campers. I can hear more people screaming and wailing as the walkers enter tents to claim their breakfast. Before thinking what I'm doing, I run to my family's tent and rip open the door flap to see one of them finishing up my sisters. I see my mom and dads remains everywhere. Their blood and internal organs are all over the walls of the tents and there's nearly nothing left of Rachel and Liz. Their necks and shoulders have been ripped into and theres not one spot in the tent where the floor is dry. The blood is everywhere. Then it comes into focus. The walker bent over Liz gnawing at her intestines. The smell of gore is just too much. My blood turns to ice and I'm frozen. The walker turns around and I'm able to get a good look. Her hair is thinning and the muscle and skin around her mouth in stained red and decayed back over her teeth. Her eye sockets are sunken and her skin has a greenish hue to it. She lunges at me and I finally snap out of it. I turn and exit the tent just to see a herd of walkers coming towards me. I start to back up and run down the street as fast as I can.


	2. Chapter 2

**Well here's chapter 2, I know the first chapter was kinda short so I tried to add more to this one. Thanks for reading :)**

**-Julie**

* * *

Shit. Shit. Shit.

This cannot be the way I go out. No way. This can't be happening.

I stare up at the 10 foot high chain link fence and my heart just sinks into my stomach. The exact fence that was built to keep walkers from getting in and killing us, might be the one factor that is going to get me killed.

I can hear the herd of walkers getting closer and closer with each second that I stand here. I quickly think of my options: I can stay here feeling sorry for myself as I get torn limb from limb by a group of flesh eating monsters. Oh yea, and then come back to life as a brain dead walker and fed on the remaining survivors of the world.

Hell no.

I make a decision and reach up to grab onto the fence. I pull myself up and simultaneously hook my feet into the chain link. I climb as if my life depends on it. Because it kind of does. I'm up about five feet when the first group of walkers reach the base of the fence. One of them grabs my boot, and damn he's got a really good grip for someone who's muscles are decaying as we speak. Other walkers reach for my boot, and I yank my foot back as hard as I can, then kick down to hit him. I hear a crunch which I guess is his nose but I don't look back to check. I climb up beyond their reach and finally get to the top. I swing my legs over, and climb down. When I reach about six feet above the ground, I push back against the fence and jump down. I look up and I'm horrified about what's on the opposite side of the fence. Dozens and dozens of skeleton like arms and fingers reach out desperately trying to grab me and the moans are deafening. They're unbearable to listen to. Disgusted, I turn and run as fast as my legs will take me into the forest surrounding the city.

It feels like I've been running for hours, but the rational part of my brain knows that I've only been running for about half an hour. I finally stop and sit at the base of the trunk of an oak tree. I put my head between my knees and hug myself. My heart feels like its about to beat right out of my chest. My lungs are screaming for air and no matter how much oxygen I suck in, it never feels like its enough.

Then my thoughts start to settle.

My family is dead. My mom and dad are gone. My sisters are gone. I'll never see Rachel and Liz's little smiling faces again. I'll never marvel at the way my dad's eyes light up when he laughs. It's all over. I start to officially break down. I sob until my tear ducts are dry and my head throbs. How can I move on when all I've ever know is gone and dead?

Suddenly I hear a twig snap to my left and I raise my puffy eyes to look. Its a guy. How did I not hear him approach? "You okay?" he asks. I nod. I notice that he's got this weird contraption strapped to his back. I can't really tell what it is from this angle. He moves closer and offers me his bandana to wipe my face. I silently accept it and wipe my face clean of the tears and snot. I look up again. His brown hair falls gently into his eyes and I wonder how he sees anything through that. He's wearing a shirt that once had sleeves, but it looks like they have been torn off. "Here" he extends his hand, "come with me".

"How the hell am I supposed to trust you?"

"Because from the looks of it, you ain't got shit. You stay out here for another minute and you'll become walker bait for sure"

I think over it in my mind. I cautiously take his hand and stand up.

"What's yer name?" he asks.

"Ingrid."

I wait a moment then ask "What's yours?"

"The name's Daryl".


End file.
